AN ACCIDENTAL MORNING BATHROOM MEETING - shelly holder

She was exposed. He hadn't seen her parted thighs in almost 21 years since the baby was born, and more than just aging had happened in that time. The weight gain. The accident. One or two affairs that he knew about. One or two that he didn't. Maybe even one or two that she forgot herself. It was hard to tell what happened to those thighs. Wars had taken place there but the media isn't interested in small scale tragedies. She quickly peed and wiped and flushed, cheeks burning and praying he hadn't turned around in the shower stall. But she knew he had. When they first starting dating she thought she understood. Now she had learned that he was just comparing the spider veins and cellulite on each thigh, ticking off mental assumptions into fact. She washed her hands and left.

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